Ilil Arbel

Russian émigré couturier Vera Koska is a fake. No, she’s a real high-end fashion designer — one of the best in London, in fact. No, Madame Koska’s intriguing past has been fashioned out of nearly whole cloth, if you’ll pardon the pun.

Madame Koska is a clever businesswoman through and through; however, she’s still kind to her employees and fair to tradesmen and suppliers. She’s worked her way up from her working-class roots into a successful, poised, cultured lady — something show more particularly hard to do in class-bound Europe at the turn of the 20th century. But when someone breaks into her new atelier, Madame Koska realizes that she — and her closest friend, a real Russian countess — are the only ones who know enough of the real past to sleuth out what’s really going on.

I loved Madame Koska almost from the start, and author Ilil Arbel has created an unflappable heroine with cleverness, courage and heart. I can’t wait to read the sequel, Madame Koska and Le Spectre de la Rose.

Some trivia. Madame Koska and the Imperial Brooch reminds me of one of those High Renaissance Dutch paintings in which a subject looks at himself looking into a mirror looking into a mirror. The character of Madame Koska is based on a mystery series written by a character in Angela Thirkell’s Barsetshire Chonicles, itself a continuation of Anthony Trollope’s initial six-novel Chronicles of Barsetshire. It’s fun trivia, but readers will thoroughly enjoy the prescient Madame Koska even without that knowledge. I, myself, didn’t know anything about it until I read the introduction. I think that, like me, they’ll be eager for a sequel.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and BHC Press in exchange for an honest review. show less

After arriving in London, Madame Koska opens a fabulous new fashion house, catering to the many wealthy women who crave that European sophistication. Meanwhile, everyone is talking about the new Russian emigres and the rumor that a stolen brooch belonging to the late Empress has surfaced in the London underground.

This was a light, almost frothy novel with an interesting main character and what sounding like some fabulous clothing! Madame Koska has arrived in London and plans to take the show more fashion world by storm. Her resilient spirit made me root for her. I also loved the look at the old school fashion world, the culture of the Russian emigres and the challenges they faced. It was such a quick and fun book. The mystery was quite light, and rather unbelievable, but honestly, I still enjoyed the book so much I didn’t really notice the lack of actual mystery. I would have loved some art sketches of the clothing and jewels the author described!

This is apparently based on a character in the 20th century novelist’s Angela Thirkell’s books. I’ve never read anything by her, but it didn’t really affect my enjoyment of the book. I am curious enough about her books though that I added one to my TBR list. Apparently she is typical of many period writers about stereotypes based on races and religion, so I am a little hesitant about that, but still kind of curious. show less

This is a mystery set in the years after the first World War; it is the first in a series. Madame Koska, supposedly Russian royalty who has fled from the revolution, is opening a couture house. She seems to have money, or money behind her. In the middle of opening the shop and creating a whole new line to display, she gets involved in solving the theft of a brooch that belonged to the Romanovs. No one seems to be who they claim to be, so who is telling the truth, and who has the jewels?

It show more wasn’t bad for a first in a series; it was short and fluffy but the plot seemed sound. Being a fashion/beading/sewing/vintage nut, I loved the descriptions of the clothing and the work the seamstresses and beaders were doing. There were a lot of characters, though, and they were very lightly touched on and I found myself getting confused as to who was who. I assume that Koska and her crew will get some character development as the series goes on. Most ‘origin stories’ are rather clumsy, being short of depth and an interesting plot, and this book does better than average. show less

Madame Koska & the Imperial Brooch is an enjoyable mystery. The style is light and breezy and reads quickly. Ilil Arbel gives away the location of the missing brooch early on, but it is not important where it is but how it got there and who is looking for it. The characters are well drawn and for the most part likeable. I would welcome another book about Madame Koska and her further adventures.